Steven the Matchmaker
by TFSyndicate
Summary: Because there's no more room at the temple, Steven helps Leggy find someone else to live with. (NOTE: Set after "Change Your Mind", but before the Movie)


After the word 'normal' was redefined to reflect recent events, everything went back to normal. Steven was now accepted as the descendent of the Pink Diamond and was welcome to stop by the Homeworld whenever he wanted. Era 3 had officially begun, and Steven and the Crystal Gems helped make it possible.

**Week 1** saw Steven overseeing the repairing of the damaged and/or previously inactive warp pads at the Galaxy Warp, thus making Steven's Homeworld visits a little easier and quicker than taking the Leg ship.  
On **Week 2**, the uncorrupted Gems and visiting Gems and Diamonds from the Homeworld undertook a heavy session of orientation, to get them acquainted to their new surroundings, and to play catch-up on what they missed. Trust me, there was a _lot_. Many Gems readily adapted to the new changes. Others wanted to go back to being poofed, bubbled, or even _corrupted_ again. Jasper, to no one's surprise, was no exception. If anyone asks, she's hook up to a leash, and tied to a wooden post holding up Steven's beach house.  
Which brings us to **Week 3**. Besides Jasper, the Temple had to play host to at least a dozen more Gems. Many of them fresh out of corruption, others visiting in place of the Diamonds. And then there's Lapis Lazuli and Peridot, who moved here since their beloved barn was damaged beyond repair since _Reunited_. The temple became quite the Gem commune!

The Yellow, Blue and White Diamonds' Pearls stopped by for their weekly inspection of Earth, to which Steven kept them informed.

"Thank you for the update, Steven," said the Yellow Pearl, saluting, "We will see you the same time next week."

The three Pearls turned for the warp pad and prepared to turn it on, setting a course for the Galaxy Warp. Steven couldn't help but stare at the White Diamond's Pearl, who was now Pink, but still had a crack over her eye. He wanted to heal it with his spit, but he missed his chance. The warp pad flashed its blinding light, and the Pearls were gone in an instant.

Steven turned to Pearl. _Our_ Pearl.

"Pearl," he said worryingly, "I've been meaning to ask you something since we came back from Homeworld."

Pearl filled a cup of punch and gave it to one of the new Gems, before she allowed herself full attention on Steven.

"What is it?"

"If White Diamond's Pearl used to be Pink's, who did you use to serve?"

It was true; the yellow, blue, pink _and_ white colors that adorned Pearl's body made it very hard to pinpoint. Pearl sighed.

"Steven, when I lived on Homeworld, I was, what you might say, a replacement Pearl. That meant if something happened to another Pearl, be it poofed, corrupted or shattered, they'd call in a Pearl like me to replace the one that left. I replaced White Diamond's Pearl after she was declared MIA, but one thing lead to another, there was a trade among Pearls, and that's how I became Pink Diamond's Pearl and Pink Pearl became White Diamond's."

"Oh! So you were like a wild card in a game of UNO!" said Steven.

"That's an…interesting modern-day comparison."

Glad we cleared _that_ up.

* * *

Later in the day, Steven went to answer the door, which was being knocked upon. To his surprise, it was one of the Ruby Squad™: the one that he called 'Leggy'. He didn't know whether to go AHHH or AWWW, so they just stood there and smiled. The pause was awkward. Pearl walked up behind Steven to see what was going on.

"Steven, who is it?" asked Pearl.

"It's Leggy."

"Can I join you guys?" Leggy asked shyly, at a whispery level.

Steven looked up at Pearl.

"What should I do?"

Pearl sighed again, "I don't know. Remember what happened with Navy?"

Steven turned back to the Ruby, "Are you sure you're not here to rat us out to…someone?"

The Ruby shook her head, "Of course not! The Great Diamond Authority™ changed their rules and regulations so that they're more Steven-friendly."

Now Garnet entered the conversation, "One question remains. I know the answer, but I want to hear it from _you_: How did you get past Jasper?"

"She's asleep. That's why I'm being quiet," said Leggy. Just as Garnet thought.

"I don't know if there is any room left here for one more gem to stay in," said Steven, "But you're welcome to come in for a while!"

Pearl gasped as Leggy walked through the door, "STEVEN! Are you sure about this? Didn't you learn _anything_ from our encounter with 'Navy'?"

"Yes. If someone's gem is farther away from their face, they're less likely to cause any actual harm!"

Pearl blushed, "I never really thought of it like that before," then looked up at the gem on her forehead.

Then Steven said "That reminds me…"

He grabbed a bag of Chaaaaps from the pantry (he had a lifetime supply just for Nephrite), and walked outside. Standing just before the stairs down to the beach, he dropped the bag down onto the sand. There was a roaring, tearing, munching and barking from beneath the floorboards Steven was standing on, concluding with a burp.

"Sit, Jasper. Heel. Good, Jasper."


End file.
